God is the Gospel Review - Pt 1

I picked up God is the Gospel for a couple of reasons. First, I was preparing for a formal opportunity to share the Gospel so I wanted to be clear on the message. I also want to internalize the truth of the Gospel so that I can communicate it going forward.

So grabbing Piper’s book, I quickly read the first chapter and was eager to dive into chapter two which looked as though it would provide a definition of what the Gospel was exactly. Here are the elements of the Gospel spelled out in this chapter.

• There is a living God (Acts 14:15)
• He Sovereignly reigns (i.e. ‘Your God reigns’ in Isa 52:7, Mark 1:14)
• The King of the Universe (the Lord), the Messiah (Christ), has come to be a Savior (Acts 8:12, Luke 2:10-11, Rom 1:1-3)
• Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures (Mark 10:45, Jer 31:34, 1 Cor 15:1-3).
• Jesus is Risen from the dead (2 Tim 2:8, 1 Cor 15:17)
• The Gospel includes the promise of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16, 18; John 14:17-18).
• The Gospel includes the promise of Salvation (Eph 1:13, Rom 1:16).
• It includes the kind blessings that were purchased by the cross (Matt 4:23, Luke 4:18) partially now and completely in the age to come.
• It includes peace with God (Rom 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18), and each other (Eph 2:14-18)
• Eternal life (2 Tim 2:10)
• Blessings of all nations (Gal 3:8,16; Eph 3:6)
• The Gospel is good news of grace not human merit (Acts 20:24; Rom 11:5-6; Eph 1:4,6)
• Jesus’ death makes God just in providing this grace (2 Cor 8:9, Heb 2:9, Rom 3:25-26)
• Every blessing to redeemed believers flows to us by that grace (Rom 8:32)

Piper then explains the point of the book, namely that none of these elements define the Gospel completely, not even when you take them altogether. So what is the essence of the Gospel? Let us peak ahead to the last chapter:

The point of this book is that the Christian gospel is not merely that Jesus died and rose again; and not merely that these events appease God’s wrath, forgive sin, and justify sinners; and not merely that this redemption gets us out of hell and into heaven; but that they bring us to the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ as our supreme, all-satisfying, and everlasting treasure. “Christ … suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18).

Now if that seems a little deep, or hard to comprehend, good. Read the book and be taught by this gifted teacher. I came away with a deeper passion for Christ and a better understanding of the Gospel.

This week I seek to entice you to pick up Piper’s book by giving some of the juiciest quotes each day. Enjoy!